Report: 70 Percent Of World's Population Could Use Smartphones By 2020

Expect the number of smartphone subscriptions to double between 2014 and 2020, according to a new Ericsson (ERIC) report.

The Ericsson Mobility Report showed that the number of smartphone subscriptions could reach 6.1 billion, or 70 percent of the global population, by 2020. In addition, the report revealed that mobile video traffic could grow at a rate of 55 percent per year until 2020 and constitute around 60 percent of all mobile data traffic by the end of that period.

Other report results included:

Mobile broadband networks could cover 90 percent of all smartphone subscriptions by 2020.

80 percent of smartphone subscriptions added by year-end 2020 will be from Africa, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Average monthly data usage per smartphone in North America will increase from 2.4 GB today to 14 GB by 2020.

There could be 26 billion connected devices in use by 2020.

So what does the future hold for telecommunications companies? Ericsson Chief Strategy Officer Rima Qureshi pointed out that these businesses could leverage new technologies to offer additional services to customers, and ultimately, boost their revenues as well.

"We see the potential for mass-scale transformation, bringing a wealth of opportunities for telecom operators and others to capture new revenue streams. But it also requires greater focus on cost-efficient delivery and openness to new business models to compete and remain effective," she said in a prepared statement.